Drivers faced a rough start to the Easter break as the price of fuel jumped by almost 6p since the start of the year, further hammering hard-pressed drivers.
Petrol went up nearly 2p per litre in March from 144.62p to 146.48p, which saw the average price at the pumps increase by almost 6p since January.
Diesel rose by 1.31p in March from 154.68p to 155.99p making it the third consecutive month of rises. For drivers filling up a full 55-litre tank of petrol, it now costs £80.56, up by £1 while diesel will set drivers back £85.79, up 72p.
The increase in prices was originally driven by a five per cent rise in the cost of a barrel of oil from $83.55 (£65.95) to $87.48 (£69.07) in March, but a surge in demand for petrol in the US ahead of the summer has caused the wholesale price of unleaded to rise to match that of diesel.
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Experts said drivers were facing 'another month of misery at the pumps'
GETTYThis resulted in a litre of unleaded costing 113.3p on the wholesale market, only a penny cheaper than diesel at 114.69p.
If petrol remains on its current trajectory, the gap between prices of petrol and diesel could from its current 7p in the next few weeks, RAC warned.
Simon Williams, RAC fuel spokesman, said: “The rising cost of oil, combined with the pound still only being worth a meagre $1.30 (£1.03), has led to another month of misery at the pumps with the price of petrol going up 2p a litre.
“Sadly, this means the average price of petrol has gone up nearly 6p so far this year.”
Looking at where drivers can purchase the cheapest fuel, the RAC found that Tesco had the cheapest unleaded as of March 31 with an average price of 142.7p across its 511 stations, while Asda had the most expensive at 145p.
Asda had a whopping 34p price difference between its cheapest and most expensive petrol with the grocer charging 138.7p at its Guildford station and 172.9p at Junction 29A of the M1 near Sheffield.
Williams added: “The RAC’s analysis of the fuel price data being compiled by the Competition and Markets Authority shows that Asda is no longer the cheapest retailer as, at the end of March, Tesco had the lowest average petrol price across its 511 forecourts. It was also joint cheapest for diesel with Sainsbury’s.
“The data also reveals that Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons only offer their cheapest prices at one or two stores whereas Tesco offers it at around 30 forecourts, albeit at a slightly higher cost. Its customers also have the comfort of knowing that there’s only 6p difference between its lowest and highest prices.”
Tesco had the smallest difference between its lowest and highest prices at the pumps, showing a price difference of 138.9p and 144.9p at stores.
At the end of March, Sainsbury’s sold the cheapest unleaded at 136.9p at two sites, one in Wolverhampton and one in Dungannon, Northern Ireland. Asda, however, was only charging its lowest petrol price of 138.7p at one of its 658 forecourts.
The data from the competition watchdog also highlighted the wildly different prices BP and Shell charge at the forecourts they own and run, Williams explained.
He warned of his concern about the high and low price of fuel, adding that there is sometimes a 30p difference between the high and low.
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GETTYWilliams commented: “We badly need to see an end to this practice as this postcode lottery is extremely unfair on drivers.”